A new route to evolution: how DNA from our mitochondria works its way into our genomes

Scientists have shown that in one in every 4,000 births, some of the genetic code from our mitochondria – the ‘batteries’ that power our cells – inserts itself

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Oct. 5, 2022 ~6 min

Seawater could have provided phosphorous required for emerging life

The problem of how phosphorus became a universal ingredient for life on Earth may have been solved by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Sept. 27, 2022 ~5 min


Dense bones allowed Spinosaurus to hunt underwater

Its close cousin Baryonyx probably swam too, but Suchomimus might’ve waded like a heron

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 23, 2022 ~8 min

Cambridge launches new Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe

With a £10 million grant awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, the University of Cambridge is to establish a new research centre dedicated to exploring the nature

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Jan. 10, 2022 ~4 min

Tree-dwelling mammals survived after asteroid strike destroyed forests

An asteroid strike 66 million years ago wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and devastated the Earth’s forests, but tree-dwelling ancestors of primates may have

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Oct. 14, 2021 ~4 min

Going up: birds and mammals evolve faster if their home is rising

The rise and fall of Earth’s land surface over the last three million years shaped the evolution of birds and mammals, a new study has found, with new species

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Sept. 2, 2021 ~4 min

Climate changed the size of our bodies and, to some extent, our brains

The average body size of humans has fluctuated significantly over the last million years and is strongly linked to temperature. Colder, harsher climates drove

Cambridge University News • cambridge
July 8, 2021 ~5 min

Early humans were sheltered from worst effects of volcanic supereruption

A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago likely caused severe climate disruption in many areas of the globe, but early human populations

Cambridge University News • cambridge
July 5, 2021 ~3 min


Ability of multi-drug resistant infection to evolve within cystic fibrosis patients highlights need for rapid treatment

Scientists have been able to track how a multi-drug resistant organism is able to evolve and spread widely among cystic fibrosis patients – showing that it can

Cambridge University News • cambridge
April 29, 2021 ~7 min

New starfish-like fossil reveals evolution in action

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered a fossil of the earliest starfish-like animal, which helps us understand the origins of the

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Jan. 20, 2021 ~5 min

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